While Angelina Jolie Pitt’s supposed first foray into awards fare as a director, Unbroken, was a bit disappointing, Universal Pictures is nevertheless bullish on her follow-up. The studio has given a prime awards season release date to By the Sea, slating the film for November 13, 2015. Competition is scarce on the pre-Hunger Games weekend, where Jolie Pitt’s film will square off against the Warner Bros. miners drama The 33, the horror reboot Rings, and the comedy Rock the Kasbah.

Jolie Pitt started production on the drama By the Sea before Unbroken was released, rolling cameras in Malta last summer. She stars opposite husband Brad Pitt in the film as an American couple who arrive in a picturesque resort in 1970s France with their marriage in crisis. They subsequently spend time with fellow travelers and come to terms with unresolved issues in their own lives. The cast also includes Mélanie Laurent, Niels Arestrup, Melvil Poupaud, and Richard Bohringer.

Despite the fact that the premise sounds a bit too similar to Richard Linklater’s excellent Before Midnight, I’m nevertheless intrigued to see how Jolie Pitt’s career as a director progresses. She showed promise with Unbroken, a film whose story was simply too unwieldy and too nuanced to be captured effectively within the context of a feature film.

The press release says By the Sea is inspired by European cinema and the theater of the 60s and 70s, so I’m curious to see how Jolie Pitt has switched things up after helming a World War II picture. “This is a story about a relationship derailed by loss, the tenacity of love, and the path to recovery and acceptance,” said Jolie Pitt. “It has been a privilege to explore these universal human experiences with such a generous and talented cast and crew.”

Check out a new image from the film below, followed by the full press release—which includes the movie’s synopsis.

Universal City, CA, May 7, 2015—Universal Pictures today announced that it will release By the Sea, Academy Award^® winner Angelina Jolie Pitt’s directorial follow-up to the studio’s epic Unbroken, on November 13, 2015, domestically.  International releases for the film will build around this date.

 

Written, directed and produced by Jolie Pitt, the dramatic film stars Brad Pitt and Jolie Pitt, who are supported by an international ensemble led by Mélanie Laurent, Niels Arestrup, Melvil Poupaud and Richard Bohringer.

 

By the Sea follows an American writer named Roland (Pitt) and his wife, Vanessa (Jolie Pitt), who arrive in a tranquil and picturesque seaside resort in 1970s France, their marriage in apparent crisis.  As they spend time with fellow travelers, including young newlyweds Lea (Laurent) and François (Poupaud), and village locals Michel (Arestrup) and Patrice (Bohringer), the couple begins to come to terms with unresolved issues in their own lives.

 

In its style, and its treatment of themes of the human experience, By the Sea is inspired by European cinema and theater of the ’60s and ’70s.

 

“This is a story about a relationship derailed by loss, the tenacity of love, and the path to recovery and acceptance,” said Jolie Pitt.  “It has been a privilege to explore these universal human experiences with such a generous and talented cast and crew.”

 

“Angie and Brad have created an intimate gem of a film that will surprise people and delivers an experience they might not expect from them,” said Donna Langley, Chairman, Universal Pictures.  “Universal is honored to market and distribute it to audiences around the world.”

 

Jolie Pitt is joined behind the scenes by a key crew that includes cinematographer Christian Berger (The White Ribbon), who used his Cine Reflect Lighting System to shoot the film; production designer Jon Hutman (Unbroken); editor Patricia Rommel (The Lives of Others); and costume designer Ellen Mirojnick (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps).  Pitt joins her in production duties, while Chris Brigham (Inception), Holly Goline (Unbroken) and Michael Vieira (Unbroken) serve as executive producers.